


Coffees and Crushes

by Spooky_Spooks



Category: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
Genre: (that last tag might just be me projecting but yall can deal), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Awkward Flirting, Coffee Shops, Crushes, Disaster Bisexual Millard Nullings, First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:07:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25774090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spooky_Spooks/pseuds/Spooky_Spooks
Summary: Between exams approaching and assignments piling up, Millard just wants a place where he can get his work done. However, with the partying neighbours taking up the rest of the dorms, and his roommate Emma his dorm wouldn't work and of course, given the time of the semester, the library was full. As a last resort, Millard finds himself in a nearby cafe, but will the attractive man at the counter be a distraction?
Relationships: Emma Bloom/Jacob Portman (mentioned), Millard Nullings/Victor Bruntley
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Coffees and Crushes

Millard sighed with relief as his last class of the day came to an end. While he did enjoy university, even he would admit there were times it became tiring. Today was one of those times, several of his assignments were due within the week and exams were fast approaching. This left him with lots of things to get done, and very little time to do them in, making him more tired than usual as he stayed up later and worked harder in an attempt to get everything done in record time while maintaining the quality that his work was known for.

Sadly, between the partying neighbors in the rest of the dorms and his roommate Emma, Millard found he struggled to get the work he wanted to finish done. This left him with only the nearby coffee shop to study in, as all of the tables in the library would be full this close to exams. He had never been, but it came highly recommended by Emma’s boyfriend Jacob so it was worth giving a chance as far as Millard was concerned. Luckily when he arrived, the shop seemed nearly empty. He breathed a sigh of relief at having finally found a quiet place to study. He made his way to the counter to order a cup of coffee to help him stay awake for a few more hours, only to stop in his tracks at the sight of the man working at the counter.

He was taller than Millard, likely by several inches, but was less lanky. The man wasn’t built much bigger than Millard but had an undeniable strength in his posture. His brown hair was cut short and neat, but some of the longer portions at the front fell onto his forehead almost meeting his eyebrows. But what caught Millard’s gaze and held it was the easy smile that graced his features, and the matching cheerful glint in his dark eyes.

Millard took a deep breath, trying to steady himself from the shock of seeing a handsome man his age at the counter. Slowly, he walked over to the counter, suddenly self-conscious of his likely tired and slightly haggard appearance. His breath caught when the man’s gaze turned to him.

“Hello there, welcome to Dreams of Beans,” his voice was deep and warm, and it filled Millard’s stomach with butterflies. “What can I get for you this evening?”

“A coffee. Black.” The words were out of Millard’s mouth before he had a chance to think about them. He usually took what Emma referred to as an ‘ungodly amount’ of cream and sugar in his coffee and couldn’t stomach the drink without it. “Please.”

His grin widened as if he knew the embarrassing hole Millard was quickly digging himself. “You got it. Is that all for today?”

“Yeah, thank you,” Millard replied, no longer trusting himself to order something reasonable. “Victor.” He added, after reading the nametag pinned to his chest.

He rang up Millard’s order and gave him the mug, his smile never wavering all the while. Millard gave him a small, nervous smile in return before walking off to one of the shop’s corner tables to hide his shame and begin his work. Rather than facing the window as he normally would (what could he say, he likes people watching) however, he found himself choosing the seat that would allow him the best view of the counter, finding himself more interested in Victor than the street.

Hesitantly, Millard took his first sip. It took all of his restraint not to immediately spit it back into the cup, black coffee was somehow viler and more bitter than he had remembered it. He knew that his face had contorted onto a mask of disgust, and quickly did his best to morph his expression into a smile when he noticed the man at the counter looking at him. In response, Victor’s smile seemed to only widen as he went back to wiping down the counter. Millard looked away quickly, diving into his textbooks and laptop to hide the red that was surly coating his cheeks.

Every few minutes, Millard would take another sip of his black coffee, only to once again have to hold himself back from spitting it back into the cup. Whenever this happened,

Millard would look up to the counter, only to see Victor smiling at him from the counter. Millard would always smile back, hoping his dislike of the beverage wasn’t too obvious as he returned to his work to mask his shame. Just as he began to believe he was hiding his hatred for black coffee thoroughly, Victor approached his table, with a jug in one hand and a cup of paper wrapped packages in the other.

“I brought you some cream and sugar,” he stated, lifting each hand respectively, an easy smile still on his face. “You didn’t seem like you were enjoying it black.”

All hope of maintaining a casual facade vanished as Millard felt his face flush before he managed to stammer out a few words. 

“You caught me!” He gave an awkward laugh. “Black coffee is awful. Thanks.”

Victor chuckled, and the sound brought butterflies to Millard’s stomach. “You know, you didn’t have to order it black.”

“I would have!” Millard insisted, beginning to ramble before he even knew what he was saying. “You were just smiling at me!”

Victor raised an eyebrow, amusement clear on his face. “You ordered your coffee black because I was smiling at you?”

“Yes?” Millard squeaked, his face flushing so warm it felt as though it would burst into flame.

“Well, I’m awfully sorry to hear that,” Victor replied, a good-natured smirk on his face. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

Millard choked. “You...uh, I...what?”

Victor’s resulting laugh made Millard’s heart clench. 

“That’s alright, I’ll let ya think about it,” he replied with a wink that made Millard’s brain short circuit.

With that, Victor set down the cream and sugar he had brought with him and turned to walk back to the counter. Millard couldn’t focus on his work after such an exchange. Was Victor  _ flirting  _ with _ him _ or was it just wishful thinking? How was he supposed to react to such things? He needed help, but who could he ask? Sure, he could text Emma, his roommate, best friend, and foster sister, but she was guaranteed to tease him endlessly. He could ask their foster mother, Miss Peregrine, but that was sure to be an awkward conversation.

With a sigh, he settled on texting Emma, rationalizing that she had a boyfriend so she must be able to give him some relationship advice. A few moments later, he received a reply.

“Oh Mil, you’ve got it bad! Just ask for his number! He asked how he could make it up to you didn’t he? ;)”

Millard balked at her text. “I can’t just ask for his number! You’re supposed to be helping, not killing me!”

“Well you want his number, don’t you? If he winked, he was definitely flirting with you.” Came the reply.

“You make it sound so easy!” Millard replied, almost regretting his decision to text Emma over Miss Peregrine.

“Come on Mil, just shoot your shot!”

He put his phone down with a sigh. He knew Emma was right, and that he should just ask for Victor’s number, but that didn’t make it easy to do. Flirting wasn’t something Millard had ever consider himself to be good at, and he usually found himself to be uncomfortable in most social interactions. Academics was where Millard’s strengths and his comfort lay. But, damn did he want Victor’s number, he wanted to talk to him, and though he refused to tell Emma, he wanted to date him. He took a steadying breath, deciding to take Emma’s advice.

He walked up to the counter, waiting nervously for Victor to turn around from where he was organizing a shelf of mugs. Millard almost backed out when Victor turned around, and his smile was directed at him once again.

“Back for a refill?” He asked, moving to the section of the counter closest to Millard.

Millard suddenly grew nervous and scratched the back of his neck in response. “Actually, I was hoping to get your number?”

Victor’s smile widened. “I was wondering if you’d ask. Just a second”

Millard’s shock and relief kept him silent while Victor grabbed a notepad and pen, wrote his number on a page, and handed it to Millard. “Thanks.” He managed to stammer out.

“Now that I’ve given you my number, could I get your name?” Victor asked, a playful glint in his eye.

“I’m so sorry, I have no idea where my manners went,” Millard blurted as the embarrassment set in. Miss Peregrine had raised him better than that. “It’s Millard, Millard Nullings.”

Victor outstretched his hand to shake and Millard took it. “Nice to meet you Millard, names Victor Bruntley.”

Millard’s blush only deepened at this exchange and as Victor released his hand, Millard went back to his table to continue his work for the night. As he left for his dorm after finishing his essay, he saw Victor waving at him, a smile on his face. The sight made Millard smile as well, returning the wave with flushed cheeks. While he wasn’t necessarily looking forward to Emma’s teasing for what she called his ‘disaster bi’ behavior, having Victor’s contact in his phone more than made up for it.

**Author's Note:**

> This was mostly self-indulgent, but I'll almost definitely write more (though likely not in this specific AU). I know it doesn't matter to the fic at all, but in this AU I've definitely pictured Millard as being a Sociology major with a minor in linguistics (probably historical-comparative specifically, but I don't know much about linguistics, so I'm not too sure on that). I'm not too sure about what degree Emma or Victor would be getting though, so if you have suggestions for that let me know! :)


End file.
